WATCH THAT SCOREBOARD!

     The Giants have an afternoon date in Washington Sunday at 4 Eastern to finish out the regular season, at the same time the Bears will be in Green Bay playing the Packers.  This scenario doesn't require any computers or confusing explanations.  The Giants need to win and hope the Bears do too in order for the G-Men to continue playing football this season.
     This will not need be an easy task this weekend.  Hakeem Nicks is doubtful for Sunday with a broken big toe, and Corey Webster has not practiced all week.  It will be tough sledding for the offense again, trying to find open receivers, and ones that Eli can feel comfortable with their decisions in pressure situations.  The O-Line is back changed up again with Shaun O'Hara, who inexplicably made the Pro Bowl this week while only having participated in 6 games, back on the sidelines.  This could be a good thing however.  The Giants had their most successful running attack while Rich Seubert was at center this year, and that is where he will be Sunday.  The Giants must return to physical football.  They must run the ball on Sunday and get after Rex Grossman on Defense.  The Redskins have one weapon, and that is Santana Moss.  They can shut down that weapon with good pressure on the QB, and also stopping the anemic running game of the 'Skins.
     I feel like I should be talking about the Bears as much as the Giants this week.  They have said the right things all week long about wanting to win their game.  They say they want to knock their arch-rivals out of the playoffs, which makes sense when you think about it.  Why not dispense of them now if possible, instead of waiting for when it's win or go home for them too in a few weeks.  The Bears have also stated that they want to make sure their defense is back in a good mindset after giving up 31 points to the lowly Jets offense.  As Bill Parcells once said...no sense in taking three weeks off.  I believe the Bears will put up a strong effort as long as the game is close and no one important gets injured.

The Giants will want to finish strong....prove they belong in the conversation, and will be keeping one eye on the scoreboard Sunday afternoon.

ANOTHER DEPRESSING DAY

    The Giants managed to ruin yet another Sunday in New York yesterday.  The Offense committed 6 turnovers, leaving the Defense to defend short fields and get no rest while they played over 37 minutes of the game.  The Giants have left themselves in a very precarious position.
     The Packers on the other hand played great.  They made every tough catch, recovered most of their own fumbles, and managed to take advantage of the Giants Defense by utilizing quick counts, and even quicker passes.  This is the recipe for defeating pressure and the Pack have all the talent needed to execute that plan.  The Giants admittedly were late in getting aligned, and also were caught switching looks at the snap.
     The offense is a mess.  The O-Line should never have been switched back to the "regular" five just because they seemed to be healthy.  The receivers continue to work, but they are clearly not on the same page as Eli when it comes to adjustments.  The running backs unfortunately fell back into their careless handling of the ball, and that all led to disaster.
     So, now we need help.  This is always a strange time of year as fans need to root for others they would normally despise.  It starts with rooting for the Eagles Tuesday night to defeat Minnesota, thus forcing Chicago to play hard in Green Bay next weekend.  The rest of the scenario goes like this:

The Giants MUST defeat the Washington Redskins in Maryland next Sunday at 4:00 Eastern, that coupled with any of the following gets us a spot in the playoffs.

A Green Bay Loss or tie to Chicago
New Orleans loses tonight to Atlanta AND next week to Tampa Bay
or the always improbable...NYG tie with a GB loss and a TB tie or loss

It's that simple...we need help!

WIN AND Y'ER IN!

     The Giants have made it simple for themselves if not easy.  Win Sunday in Green Bay and you are in the playoffs...guaranteed the six seed, and maybe better if others things happen.

     The G-Men will re-visit the site of their 2007 NFC Championship game, and hopefully have some more good memories when they leave.  The Packers will have Aaron Rodgers back in the line-up Sunday, but will still struggle to move the ball on the ground.  They had some success against a very iffy New England defense last week, but I don't expect that success to continue against a not too happy Giants defense.  Look for the obvious to happen here.  The Packers will have no running attack except the mobile Rodgers who is coming off his second concussion of the season, and might be a bit hesitant to pull the ball down and run.  The pass rush will need to be at it's best, and the pressures exotic.  I do not expect any sort of hangover for this defense or this coordinator.

     The Offense will continue to gel with the old and new pieces coming together, and will need a strong effort against a very talented Green Bay defense.  They rush the passer well, and the offensive line will be tested yet again.  Look for the Giants in the cold to run, run ,and run some more.  The wide-outs will need to make some plays, but the main weapons this week will be Bradshaw and Jacobs.

This should be a very good game.  The Packers have no chance to make the playoffs with a loss....and the Giants want to change the conversation from last week to one about who they will play and where once the post season begins.

Root hard for the Saints to lose......they will need to lose to Atlanta and Tampa the next two weeks to give us the 5th seed......assuming we take care of business Sunday afternoon.

THE BIG PICTURE

     The Giants played a perfect game for three and a half quarters yesterday, but were ultimately done in by the freak of nature that is Mike Vick.  It's not the punters fault alone....The Maningham fumble, the Phillips missed tackle on Brent Celik, and the missed sack attempt by Deon Grant all contributed and led to the poor snap and punt to end the game.

     The Big Picture is that yesterday was one of those days in the NFL.   New Orleans lost, Tampa Bay lost, Green Bay lost, and that leaves the Giants in the same position they were in before the game started.

     I still would not want to face the GIANTS defense in the playoffs.  I am also very impressed with an offense that rushed for a hundred and threw for 290 with a 47% third down conversion rate playing behind an O-Line that hadn't seen each other in a while.  This game will turn out to be be more of an indictment of the Eagles that it will the G-Men.  That Eagle defense will never stand up for 5 more games.

Off to Green Bay next week followed by a trip to Washington........if it ended now a rematch with the Eagles is in the making, this time in Philly.

For all of you hearing or even spouting rumors about Bill Cowher, let's recap a bit.  Anyone remember when Coach Cowher was actually coaching?  He was known as the guy who couldn't win the big one.  Lots of regular season success followed by failure in the playoffs...sort of like say the Chargers of today. He won one Championship in a game the NFL has called the worst officiated game in NFL history.  Ask anyone in Seattle who won that game, then get back to me.  The great coach then quit, at a young age, and no one in Pittsburgh tried to get him to stay, and no one has missed him since.  He has been out of football for 4 years...making (wrong) predictions on TV every week doesn't make you a head coach.  Mr. Coughlin on the other hand has won one championship and been on the staff for another.  He is number one in successful challenges, does a great job with clock management (see '07 super Bowl final 2:32) and gets his team prepared every week without false bravado, or tearing the other team down.  He also takes the blame when necessary, and is truthful about his own teams chances, not like others who always say the better team lost today ( ala Wade Phillips).
Coach Coughlin is here to stay a while.......one game, no matter how bad, is not going to cost this coach his job.  Many coaches and fans wish their team had a chance to finish 11-5 and play in the post season.

Preview on Friday....and keep your heads up, it's still just one strange game.

THE BIG PUSH

      The Giants accomplished their mission for the previous three weeks....and that was to survive.  They have placed themselves back into position to win the East.  Three dominating wins with some "backup" personnel.  Pretty impressive.  They did it by playing GIANTS Football.  They have rushed the ball extremely well with both backs contributing behind any combination of Offensive lineman.  The Giants have proven that running the ball is an attitude, and that they want to dominate in that category.  This week the Giants have 53 guys in pads for practice, a rare treat for the coaches.
     Sunday at one at Home....The Eagles step into the fray tied for the division lead.  The Giants however are the team in position to clinch a playoff spot with a win.  Winning this game will put the Giants alone atop the NFC East, and hopefully pave the way to some post season football.  A loss here for the Giants means they will need some help down the stretch, and would be looking at a rematch with these Eagles on Wild Card weekend.  The Giants tried some interesting combinations Monday night in Detroit, at times they had 6 offensive linemen in the game pass blocking.  They ran some interesting formations with multiple tight ends and fullbacks catching passes.  They have become a versatile group, and will need to finish the season that way after losing Steve Smith for the remainder of the campaign.
     The Eagles have played well since the last meeting, but have shown a propensity for losing a lead in the third quarter of their recent games, and then rallying from behind to win.  They saw what they did well last time, and what the Giants tried to prevent.  The Eagles will look to provide some extra protection on Mike Vick's right side..so he doesn't get flushed that way and be forced to throw off balance or run.
     The fun thing about this game is both teams will do what they do well.....The Giants will run the ball, pressure the QB, and play clock management field position football.  the Eagles will look for the Big Play, gamble on defense with blitzes, and try to make the Giants match score for score.

The edge goes to the Giants here for a few reasons.  The Eagles lost their starting MLB last week and his replacement did not practice this week due to a hamstring issue.  They may still be without their top corner in Asante Samuel, and they are missing their starting defensive end.  The Giants will need to have zero turnovers, have great coverage on kicks and punts, and most importantly have much more success running the ball than they did in their last meeting (61 yards).

This one means a lot...and with Green Bay missing their QB and having no running game...it could mean everything.

Enjoy!

ANOTHER VIKING FUNERAL

     A few years back, after the NFC Championship game of 2000, a friend and I took a small wooden sailboat equipped with a Vikings Sail and lit it on fire as we set it to sail in my swimming pool.  A true Viking funeral performed for the benefit of our friend who was at the time the Special Teams coach for the Vikings.  I believe we need to re-create this moment again Sunday afternoon.  Of course this time it could be a double funeral for Brett and the Vikes, maybe Chilly would like to light the torch?
     The Giants finish up week three of their survival tour this week.  The good news is that Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks seem to be preparing to play.  David Diehl also looks to return to the line up Sunday.  The troops are healing and practicing just in time to make a stretch run, but this game cannot be overlooked.  I know the Eagles are on the horizon, and that game will probably decide the division, unless the Cowboys or Bears do us a huge favor down the stretch.  This game has to be won to set up that matchup the following Sunday at home.  It is believed the Giants will need to win 3 of their last 4 to make the playoffs, and with a Christmas trip to Green Bay on the schedule, this one cannot be overlooked.
     The Giants have faired well lately on offense despite being short players at key positions.  Now that Eli has some of his favorite weapons back, the depth of this offense is incredible.  Nicks, Hagan, Boss, Beckum, Smith, Manningham, and others have all contributed this year and have fought through adversity.  Manningham was the "main" receiver last week and was supposed to be locked down by the Redskins.  He caught some balls and contributed.  All these guys have stepped up and it bodes well for the future.  The backs and O-Line, no matter who is playing where, has also been magnificent.  No sacks in 5 games, both backs rushing for over a hundred yards in a game, and putting points on the board can all be attributed to this teams effort.  They should have no problem continuing their fine play against a weak Viking pass defense (12th in the league) and a surprisingly soft rushing defense.  The Vikings brutal pass rush has been absent in many games this year, we need that trend to continue.
     The Defense will be facing either and old statue at QB, or a mobile youngster who is prone to more than a few mistakes.  Let's all remember that Jackson has been second choice for the Vikings for years behind anyone they could think of, even a 41 year old retired (three times) shadow of his former self.  I loved Brett in Green Bay, and was looking forward to he and Michael Strahan being inducted into the Hall of Fame together, but that Brett is gone and this one really should forget his streak and go home.
Either way the Giants Defense will need to bring the pressure, cause turnovers like they did last week, and be ever so careful of the great Adrian Peterson.  This will be a a good rehearsal for the speed of the Eagles coming next week.  The Vikings have that same speed in Percy Harvin, when healthy, Sidney Rice and A.P.  I'm sure Mr Fewell has a good plan in place, but it will have to be a good one to slow down this Viking offense.  Turnovers, special teams, and limiting the big play will be the keys to this game.

If the GIANTS get through this road test, and they do have a small chip on their shoulder because of how they played in Minneapolis last year, they will have set themselves up for a great stretch run to the Division Title.

Sunday at 1:00 on Fox.........Enjoy!

STEP TWO.....

     The last few weeks here we have been speaking of the need to return to Giants Football.  Holding the opponent under 75 yards rushing, 4 Sacks, 2 Int's, 4 Fumble recoveries, a partially blocked punt, and rushing for 200 yards on a windy day in the Stadium with 35 minutes of ball possession.  I would say THAT was GIANTS FOOTBALL.
The pressure on McNabb was relentless.  The Defense actually forced a few more fumbles that the Redskins were lucky enough to recover, or this could have been even worse.  Jason Pierre Paul is showing his potential, and the safeties and corners continue to play exceptional football.

The Offense again was supposed to struggle.  If you were listening to Moose Johnston, the Giants were going to have just an awful time protecting Eli (No Sacks in 4 games) and running would be near impossible with their make shift line.  Tony Siragusa pointed out that the Redskins knew that Mario Manningham was the biggest threat and would eliminate him from the passing game.  What were the Giants going to do?  How could they ever win this game?  Would they adjust, or just fold up and go home?

Well, after the first two drives, the first where they ran for every yard but 2, it was pretty obvious the O-Line would be fine and the Giants were on their way to a good day and a big win in the division at home.

Unfortunately this week will be all about will Brett Favre play or not......spare me.....I'll check in with you Friday as the Giants finish up their three game survival mode, and look for the cavalry to return for the stretch drive to the playoffs.

FAMILIAR FOE

     The Giants take the second step in their 3 week survival mode Sunday at 1:00 against the banged up Redskins at GIANTS Stadium.  The Redskins come in with their 3rd string running back, their starting safety out, and a host of other backups in their starting lineup.  But as we said last week, this is all about the GIANTS.

     The offense that performed so well last week will look pretty much the same.  Steve Smith and David Diehl did some work in practice this week, but seem to be targeting next week in Minnesota as their return date.  Shawn Andrews is still out with a bad back, and might be out for a while.  Look for the progression of players like Kevin Boothe, Wil Beatty, Michael Clayton, and Travis Beckum to be a factor this week.  They all have started to contribute and are growing stronger in their health and understanding of the offense.  Kevin Boss, Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs will still carry the load, but help is on the horizon, and all this playing time builds depth for the final three games.

     The Defense will again be tasked with stopping a mobile QB this week.  The major difference between Jacksonville and Washington however is that the Redskins have no running game.  With Clinton Portis out for the season, and Ryan Torain missing the week of practice, they will have to rely on Keiland Williams, an un-drafted free agent out of LSU.  Look for McNabb to use his tight ends, to throw the quick passes to the backs, and of course use max protection to set up a few throws to the ever pesky Santana Moss.  The GIANTS will know how to pressure McNabb, and he is usually good for a few errant throws during a game, and of course he is known for tiring in the fourth quarter.  Hitting him often, making him make the quick reads, and containing the receivers after the catch will be the keys to this game.

     The GIANTS will need to win Sunday to keep pace within their division, and continue on the road to the showdown with the Eagles.  Right now it looks like December 19th at home will decide the division, but as has been said before, their is a lot of football left, and every game is important.

See you Monday!  Enjoy